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Texas governor invites Obama to tour border

President Obama is being invited to tour the U.S.-Mexico border -- by Texas' Republican governor, Rick Perry. In a Wednesday tweet, Perry wrote: "@BarackObama: While in TX next week, I invite you to tour the

Texas governor invites Obama to tour border

President Obama is being invited to tour the U.S.-Mexico border by Texas' Republican governor, Rick Perry.

In a Wednesday tweet, Perry wrote: "@BarackObama: While in TX next week, I invite you to tour the border with me to see firsthand what is happening there. cc: @WhiteHouse."

Obama is scheduled to be in Dallas and Austin next week on a trip that includes Democratic fundraisers.

Perry, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 and may try again in 2016, also extended an invitation to Obama during a Wednesday interview on Fox News.

"If the president of the United States is really serious about securing that border, we can show him how to do that," Perry told Fox and Friends. "But I haven't even had a phone call from this president."

Don't expect Obama to take up Perry's offer, at least not next week.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama is "very attuned" to the challenges on the border, and "this is something the administration is paying close attention to."

While not citing Perry by name, Earnest said Republican officials who are extending border invitations to the president would do better to support passage of a comprehensive immigration bill in Congress.

.@BarackObama: While in TX next week, I invite you to tour the border with me to see firsthand what is happening there. cc: @WhiteHouse